Well here we are at the beginning of April and the start of the new season is only a matter of days away, but that is looking doubtful given the recent weather as the 1st XI are due to take on our near neighbours; Oxton in a pre-season friendly on Saturday 4th April. Following that we welcome Burneside to Old Greasby Road who travel down from Cumbria, and then the week after we're into league action with the 2nd XI hosting Brooklands and the 3rd XI hosting Chester Boughton Hall. On the road, the 1st XI head over to Brooklands and the 4th XI are at Urmston. I'd like to wish all the teams the very best of luck for what promises to be a very exciting season.

Since I wrote my first Chairman's Message in January, the months seem to have flown by and an inordinate amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure we arrive at this point in the best possible shape. There's still plenty to do, but we'll keep working hard to ensure as a committee and army of volunteers we serve you; the members in the best possible way.

There was no better demonstration of that than at the recent NatWest Cricket Force weekend which saw the best turnout I have ever witnessed and an incredible amount of work complete in such a small amount of time (see John Lamb's report for full details). I learnt a couple of things over the course of that weekend....1. when we all pull together, we can achieve such a lot, and 2. this year’s Grounds Chairman is far better than his predecessor!

As we focus on the grounds, there have been a host of other activities going on to try and improve the facilities. First up, we have instructed contractors to come in and undertake some remedial work on the nets. The scope of their work will be to remove all the surfaces and make good any unevenness and leave them in a condition which is acceptable and provide our senior and junior playing members with a safe environment to practise and develop their game. They will also be installing new netting as 10 years of wear and tear have taken their toll on the old netting. This work was meant to have happened by now, but had to be aborted due to the weather conditions so we are hopeful that things improve and the work can commence very soon.

We have also invested in some new drainage on the front pitch over by the electronic scoreboard area of the pitch. Anybody who's played on the front will know that area has been particularly problematic for a number of years now and the only way to resolve this was with some new drainage. Having walked out there in the last few days, the differences are noticeable and over time will improve even further. Due to the weather not being quite warm enough yet for grass seed to take, there may be signs in the first few weeks of the season off where the work has been undertaken, but it is hoped that within a few weeks everything will look back to normal. Thank you for your patience during this time.

On the playing side of things, we look forward to welcoming Ben Cant to the club as he arrives from New Zealand. Ben arrives in the UK on Easter Monday, and will be heading over to the Wirral on Wednesday 8th April, and will be at nets on Thursday 9th for you to say "hello". Also joining the club since I last wrote is former Caldy 1st XI skipper; Rich Battersby. Rich brings with him a wealth of experience both on and off the pitch (for more details click here). I'm sure you'll join me in welcoming both of them, plus any new members to UCC and making them feel part of the Upton family.

The welcome we can offer to both to our own players and our visitors will be complimented by some new bar facilities as we have now linked up with Heineken who will be our brewery partner for the next 12 months. As part of this deal, they will be replacing all the pumps, providing new glassware, bar runners and fridges which will give the bar a fresh new feel. Please come along and enjoy the facilities as your support really does count.

From a junior perspective, as you'll have seen by Simon McGowan's weekly blogs things have been very busy and Simon has put in place a great structure. He has organised a Junior Registration Night on Friday 10th April which will be followed by a 'Bingo Night' (more details can be found here). As we look to embody our philosophy of "one club" I’d like to stress that this ISN'T a junior function, it's a CLUB function. So please make every effort to come along from 7.00pm.

The juniors start their outdoor sessions the following Friday (17th April) and I’m sure Simon and his coaching team will be looking forward to getting stuck in. A couple of weeks later on Friday 1st May, we are privileged to be able to welcome to the club the Rt.Hon. Esther McVey MP who has expressed an interest in coming along to the club to understand how we operate. We are very much looking forward to welcoming her down to the club and demonstrating the great work that we do.

Off the pitch, you'll have hopefully seen that the website has continued to be very active. We did manage one week as the number 1 ranked cricket club website in the UK, which is a tremendous feat for us, and the team behind the scenes are all determined to regain top spot! If anybody has any suggestions for articles or would like to contribute, then please get in touch with myself or Communications Officer; Simon Evans via email.

I started off by recognising the effort and output of the NatWest Cricket Force weekend, but it's not only these two days where work gets done. I would urge any of you to pop down to the club on a Tuesday or Friday morning and see what goes on in keeping your club together. The jobs that we probably all take for granted don't just happen, and it's only by a small group giving up their own time that the club keeps ticking over. So if you have any spare time to give, whenever it is, please get in touch with me or any other member of the committee and you can help make a difference.

As we embark on a new season, I’d like to leave you with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt - "Believe you can and you're half way there". Take this into everything you do, whether it be on or off the pitch and the club will be in a better place.

Regards
Jez Lamb
Chairman

P.S For those traditionalists amongst you, you'll be pleased to read that the earlier article about coloured clothing was indeed an April Fools joke. It was reassuring to know that a good proportion of people are still gullible, not least our Junior Chairman!